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Ignore keywords that have no data in the Google Keyword Tool?

There are some keywords that have no monthly search data in the Google Keyword Tool. In many cases, this is because there have been very few searches for the keyword.

Would you recommend focusing on other keywords that do have search data in the Google Keyword Tool? Perhaps focusing too far out on the long tail of search results can be less productive than focusing on keywords that have proven that at least some people care about them.

5 Responses

I think this entirely depends on the nature of your business. All I can share with you is my own experience with this. I do SEO for several sites, one is a very small, very tight niche business. I have identified about 264 keywords that are key to the business. Out of those, probably only 10 show any search volume in the Google keyword tool at all. However, every single one of them has produced revenue (that's how they ended up on my final list). How much revenue could one possibly get out of a site that only focused on 264 keywords and only 10 of them showed any search volume in Google? What if I told you it was possible to do over $3 million a year?

Remember, Google's Keyword tool is just that, a tool. It can't replace intimate knowledge of your customers and your products. If you know those things inside out, trust that knowledge and go after the keywords you know your customers are going to use to find you. Let your competition obsess over broad keywords that do show search volume. They'll miss the mark and you'll hit it out of the park.

All that being said, it does depend on your business model. Obviously if you box yourself into a niche that's too tight, you just might be putting yourself into a place where there just isn't enough demand for what you're offering to make it. Then, you might need to broaden the scope, or select a niche that isn't quite as limited.

If you have relavent, compelling content for a high volume google query then by all means optimize for it. But remember that 20% of the queries Google receives each day are ones they haven't seen in at least 90 days (http://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2497828?hl=en) so don't be afraid to anticipate a future audience, even if the traffic isn't already in Google Keyword Tool.

Obviously, there are industries (news and trend based) that are perpetually in the cycle of creating, anticipating, or quickly reacting to new keyword spikes.

Either approach is valid, but I suggest you let your content and your passion for your audience be your guide. If you produce great content, and you are confident their is an audience that wants to consume it, then don't let the lack of keyword traffic stop you. The world just doesn't know they need your keyword yet!

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